This is meant more as an attempt for those who play as mages to explain how their characters work, what I am going to say has just been my experiences so far.

I have wanted to try playing a mage but I have a very hard time with it because they seem so less effective than my warrior classes in the past. I primarily used Heavy Armor, Shield, Sword and of course maxed smithing. My character was insanely powerful and I found enemy mages to be the easiest to kill. With my elemental protection I shrugged off the half of their attacks, combined with the Lord stone it was even more unfair for them. I never had to worry about running out of stamina because I did a lot of basic attacks and didnt go bashing everything under the sun. Between my armor and my shield I rarely ever needed to heal and just as an added benefit I used Become Ethereal if I was about to get nuked.

My problem is that every attempt I have made at a mage feels so lack luster. His damage is ok sure but he has terrible defense even with Oakflesh. Conjuration seems like a nice distraction tool but my summons die quickly. I think the biggest issue overall is that my magic drains insanely fast in anything above a skirmish. I have points in destruction and the first couple of perks for Novice and Apprentice perks, additionally I put everything into magicka when I level and am wearing fancy robes.

At the end of the day I just dont see the point of playing as a mage except for roleplaying sense. I would love to hear from those who have mastered being a mage to hear what they do to make the style work, suggestions to make myself a better mage, and anything else that you might find helpful. Sorry about the long post.

Assassins > Warriors

Hint there

Assassins > Mages too

Well, you can wear armor as a mage, there is no penalty for doing so. But if you want to play a pure mage it takes more work and finesse than a warrior. Illusion is a good school to calm your enemies or frenzy them to make them fight eachother. Being hidden, in sneak mode, helps a lot with frenzy spells. the higher level atronachs are tougher, the familiar not so much.

Mages are a completly different playstyle than warriors. You can't just run in and start slinging spells.

Lol, partially yes. Only so long as they dont see you coming. Once it is a stand-up fight then the assassin will be crushed. I go for a protect the people mentality so hiding in the shadows as a style, doesnt really work for me. I just dont want to turn into the mindless warrior who has big muscles and the IQ of a fence post.

I kind of discovered that, it just bothers me a bit because in the time it takes for the mage to go in there and cast the fancy frenzy and summons then lay down the destruction magic, the warrior is already sitting down drinking a cup of tea because he has been done for the past 5 minutes.

It basically comes down to this:
Warrior is easiest, but simplist
Mage is a little bit harder but eventually gets to do way cooler stuff
Assassin is mediocre to poor in combat but is easy when used correctly because they are cheap.

I suppose cooler is a matter of opinion but I agree completely about the assassin and even the warrior in all honesty.

In my opinion and experience mages and warriors tie.

All have slightly different playstyles. I have one of each and I always have to be the "right" mindset playing them. I have been able to level my mage the fastest, as once you get Impact, the game is on EZ mode. I actually play with all the enhanced magic mods to lower the % of impact and make things more exciting.

Currently I'm playing a cleric...or at least my idea of one. She wears light armor, one-handed sword/dagger, magic on the other hand. SHe can use destruction magic, but it's a compliment to running in and fighting with her sword. It's been a combination of all of them and has been interesting...

Any specific reason? I am just curious, because my own experiences havent shown mages to be very threatening.

This. Playing any mage class other than Battlemage will definitely seem hard to a player who preferred warriors in the past. But after you get used to playing the magic type of character, great gameplay is granted. Just be patient and don't be afraid to experiment with skills.

My advice to you when playing a pure Mage at early levels is try not to get hit and just keep moving and don't level pointless stuff because if you've got 80 in pickpocket at level 20 but only 30 in destruction you won't find it easy.

Totally, and I just got the Master Destruction spells, so you'll forgive me if I'm biased. And don't get me wrong, I still love playing a warrior...it does get tiresome managing spells, soul gems, alchemy ingredients (I know it's stealth now but I still use it with some magic characters) and all that. If it adds any context, my preferred play style is half way between magic and combat.

Did you spammed iron dagers to get smithing 100?

Pretty much, I only max out my smithing though once I have maxed out my weapon style so as not to horrifically unbalancing gameplay.

Spellsword > Mage & Warrior

Nightblade > Mage & Rogue

I just dont see how any mage can trump my warrior, their spells do practically nothing. The Dragon Priests are a good example, there attacks do little more than tickle me.

I've played a vast variety of characters since release and this is what I've found...

...Warriors are behemoths. Using incoherent brute strength to power through all obstacles. Sure this sounds very simply and repetitive but crushing through everything is satisfying in higher difficulties. And if you're a true Nord like myself you don't bother with magic and use Alchemy to fulfill that "tactical" sense of game play.

...Mages are the most difficult class to play as at early levels you have insufficient mana to roll with your "opening" spells in combat (ie Oakflesh>summon/raise an ally>Destruction spells>Emergency Illusion spells) by the time you've hit Conjure familiar or raise zombie you have 1/5 mana left for destruction spells. Even worse than that if it's a longer drawn out fight and you aren't an alchemist or an Altmer you better run your ass away while your mana comes back. BUT once you hit later levels, have >400mana and have perks like Twin Souls, Paralyze, Quiet Casting, Atromacy, Impact, and the damage increase perks the game becomes a blast. You have to anolyze each encounter and think to yourself "Do I frenzy that guy and throw out a Frost Atronach, or can I handle this with a few runes and a "Wall" destruction spell?

....Rogues are the best class to play if you want to say "Yeah, I rage face on master difficulty." and have people think you're hardcoe. Easiest class to play, with little to no learning curve, but definitely one of the funnest classes to play as if you're a strict class player. I have one simply cause dual wielding daggers is sick and who doesn't love one shotting Dragons on MASTER level difficulty (this is of course with use of profession abuse.)

My advice to you is to stick it out, take alchemy so you have health and mana on tap as well as access to potions that improve your spells. Taking a melee skill is also recommended for those "I'm so boned" moments when your mana is gone and your Frost Atronach can't make it through the small arch he's stuck under to save you. Alteration is a MUST and so is Illusion. When playing a pure Mage it is near Impossible to be successful without accessing all five schools of magic in someway, and at the end of the day conquering a group of bandits with your mastery of the elements is the most satisfying feeling I've yet to experiance in the game. Stick to it, it gets awesome.

p.s. Dragons will **** you up until you hit like lv45, then it'll be okay again, until you start facing Elder breeds, then you'll cry. Make sure you have a Breton/Alteration perks/Blessing of Mara (perminant buff)/Lord stone to absorb that breath attack. Best way to win? Lightning Storm ABUSE.

p.s.s. It is in my best opinion (over 300 hours of game play) that Destruction IS in fact underpowered in comparison to other forms of damage. I can only hope that Bathesda decides to do something about this....

Mages can easily become the easiest class in the game if you reduce your spell cost to 0 and have the impact perk. You can beat ancient dragons on master without losing any health. You can also paralyze people, rendering them useless for the duration of the spell. You can stop people from fighting, make them run away in fear or make group of enemies kill each other while you remain invisible in the shadows. You can summon creatures to fight for you or resurrect fallen enemies to use as zombie slaves. You can buff up a companion and sit back and watch while they do the work for you, healing them when necessary. I found my pure mage character was the most overpowered character I made because there were multiple ways of me completely owning everything. The only downside is the lack of damage destruction spells have at higher levels which can be fixed with potions.

The vanilla game is so easy that all 3 archtypes can eventually become godlike, the only difference is how long it takes. If you use mods to increase enemies level range and numbers high enough though you'll find that nothing compares to a warrior. 10-20 ultra high level oponents will wipe the floor with any assassin or mage build. Once you're beyond the point of being able to just instagib any opponents before they reach you, you need defense to whittle them down.

I dont really play a mage, I play a necromancer. But, dang, he is powerful. Where I had to work for my victories as a warrior, my necromancer wtfpwns everything it comes across without breaking a sweat.

Mages could "theoretically" become the most powerful characters in skyrim.

also, A mage can wear armor...have you not heard of a BattleMage? One of the most honored and respected professions in all of Tamriel?

Here is a good build for you:

Class: Battle Mage
Race: Imperiel/Breton
Primary Skills: Destruction, Restoration
Secondary Skills: Heavy Armor, Illusion
Standing Stone: The Apprentice Stone (Doubles Magic Regen)
Weapon: Staff of your choice for backup when your mana runs low.

With this build its very flexible...Heavy Armor gives you staying power up close, The Apprentice Stone allows your Magica to recover quickly allowing you to cast more spells. Illusion will allow you to frenzy, calm, or otherwise confuse the enemy. Restoration will keep you and your allies going, and Restoration offers faster Magic Regen perk.

Switch to a Staff if your mana gets low and the enemy is close...There are some good staffs in this game if your willing to find them will give you a viable attack to fall back on.

you get the best of both worlds in this build...Heavy Armor for solid Defense, with the ability and skill to cast the most useful schools of magic to your benefit.....As i said...Battle Mages are very powerful...Jagrtharn is just one of many in lore....

My conjurer/battlemage has been the most rewarding and fun to me. My two Dremora lords take anything that's too powerful or hard for me to take down with my two handed destruction spells, or my ebony war axe and 1 destruction spell.

LOL not anymore! Now after your first couple casts you go to a kill-cam cut scene and watch helplessly as the dragon waltzes over and consumes your torso.

Paper: "Balance scissors, it's OP, rock is fine though..."